Icon of the Entrance of the Theotokos into the Temple

This is pat of a paper I wrote for school a couple of years ago on the Icons of the 12 Great Feasts of the Orthodox Church.
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The Entrance of the Theotokos into the Temple (November 21)

This feast is not one of the earliest feasts of the Church (1). However, there is evidence that it was being celebrated in the 4th Century.(2) The major figures in this Icon are Mary “the first and only woman to enter the Holy of Holies(3)”, her parents Ss. Joachim and Anna, and her kinsman the priest St. Zacharias. Like all of the Feasts and their Icons, this Feast and Icon are not just commemorations of historical (4) events. This Feast is instruction in the way of holiness. In the Icon we see the role of parents and the Church in the formation of young souls. Mary did not enter the Temple alone, but was with her family and the priest. We also see that the way to sanctification is gradual. There are fifteen steps (the number varies according to the iconographer) she ascends. There are three chambers she walks through (again, this varies according to the iconographer). The point of this is that sanctification does not happen in an instant. We must progress from the courtyard (active life) to the Holy (natural contemplation), then from the Holy to the Holy of Holies (Knowledge of God) (5). We must ascend the steps one at a time – “precept upon precept, line upon line, here a little and there a little”(6).

Finally, we must see the cause of the great joy permeating this Feast. Even though “the angels are astonished to see the Virgin enter the Holy of Holies(7)”, Mary was replacing this Temple of stone. She was becoming the Temple of God. And she, the prototype of all Christians goes ahead of us and shows us what is in the future for all who love Christ: To be temples of God.


1 Ouspensky and Lossky, Op. Cit., 153
2 A Monk of St. Tikhons Monastery, Op. Cit., 160
3 Quenot, Michael, The Icon: Window on the Kingdom (Crestwood. New York: St. Vladimir’s Seminary Press, 1996), Page 51
4 Two famous and very influential American priests, Fr. Thomas Hopko and Blessed Seraphim (Rose) are in disagreement concerning the historicity of this event. However, they both see the feast as a very important revelation concerning the attainment of holiness.
5 Ouspensky and Lossky, Op. Cit., 153
6 Isaiah 28:10
7 Vespers of the Feast